A massive fire that broke out in a building in Indore on Saturday was allegedly set by a man, who wanted to return to a woman resident after she rejected his marriage proposal.
A massive fire broke out in a building in Swarn Bagh Colony in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. (Image: INDIA TODAY)
Fire broke out in a two-storey building in Indore, in which seven people died The Saturday was allegedly set on by a man, who wanted to come back after refusing the romantic advances of a female resident, police said.
The accused, identified as Shubham Dixit (27), used to rent a flat in the now dilapidated building and had an affair with a woman residing in the same premises. He proposed to her but she turned it down, and later got engaged to someone else. Expressing displeasure against him, Dixit set his scooty on fire on Saturday.
Flames spread from the parking lot and soon engulfed the residential building. While the woman survived, seven others died while nine others are battling for life in the hospital.
Dixit, who was absconding after setting fire, was arrested by Indore Police on Saturday night. A case has been registered against him for murder. The CCTV footage helped investigators identify the accused, whose arson act was caught on camera.
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The fire broke out in a two-storey residential building located in the congested Swaran Bagh Colony area of Vijay Nagar between 3 and 4 am and was doused after three hours of hard work.
After the fire broke out, the area around the ground floor and staircase of the main door of the building was engulfed in flames and black smoke, while the door leading to the terrace from the third floor became extremely hot, Deputy Commissioner of Police Sampat Upadhyay said. Due to which most of the people got trapped inside. Some people ran to the balcony of their respective flat to save themselves.
Authorities recovered five bodies and rescued five injured from the building. Those injured were taken to the hospital for treatment. Two more people died in hospital, taking the death toll to seven.
Expressing grief over the incident, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered an inquiry into the incident and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs.4 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.